Dear all,
I have decided to leave all my forums.
The reason why is simple, I have lost weight and got my life back. Now I have a life I do not spend all day on the sofa reading forums and surfing the internet as I used to when I was fat. And this is all thanks to the Mcdougall diet.
I used to be a paleo dieter, who took things to extremes and went zero carb. After I had compromised my health an accidental purchase of The China Study changed my life (accidental because I forgot my book when flying from New Zealand to the UK, and grabbed The China Study at the airport because I am interested in diet! It's a long time to fly and it was the only book I had...or I wouldn't have read it otherwise!) that lead me to watch forks over knives and the purchase of other books...The starch Solution; Whole; Digestive Tune Up; Engine 2 Diet; Eat and Run by Scott Jureck etc etc.
I lost a lot of weight and gained a life. My spare time used to be on the sofa with an iPad, idly surfing the net. I am now a plant based ultrarunner. I know many people believe that excess running is bad for you, and there is no way around it, ultrarunning is excessive. But I have made my decision. I wish to LIVE all the days of my life, and I am more alive running than not running. And healthier of course! I reckon being depressed, fat and never walking an unnecessary step is worse than ultrarunning, even if there is some evidence marathon running can damage the heart.
Now I cycle to the shops to get my food...I can even balance a 10kg sack of potatoes on my bike rack!....I run my own small business, I am writing a book about weight loss, running and being an earthquake survivor, I am teaching myself Latin for fun and am considering doing the Starch Solution certification or the Cornell course so I can help others.
All this takes time, in particular the running training, and something has to give. So I am leaving all my forums.
I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone here. The fellow travellers who have cheered and supported me along my journey; the moderators who work so hard making this forum the safe and supportive community that it is; the experts who take the time to answer questions, and of course Dr McDougall himself who forged the way and then created this wonderful free space for people to meet.
So thank you, thank you, thank you all. And a little message to any newbies who may read this. Just do it. It's all there in the Starch Solution, don't overthink it, don't obsess over it, just do it. And if you do trip over.....accept that stuff happens, pick yourself up and move on again. It is worth it. Oh boy, it is so worth it.
Thank you all
Love Katie.
PS, edited to say….
As this has moved to the testomonials section i thought you might like some photos…
Before McDougall. I am not throttling Ruff, honest!
After McDougall, taken on Mt Richardson, South Island, NZ.
On The Summit of Mt Isobel